The Men of Faith
by Ocho Wolf
Summary: Jack finds himself in a small pool after having fulfilled his destiny. But there's still something that's holding him back, so an old friend has come to talk to him one last time...


The Men of Faith

Jack could feel it in his body, the pain surging from his abdomen and the feeling as if had been blasted all throughout time and space. He had just plugged the source, the light that was the heart of the entire island had refilled the entire room. He finally understood what Jacob had meant, this is what he had to do, he had to save the island. This was his destiny. His purpose

As the water rushed in, he felt oddly calm for a man seething with pain. The flow of the water was like that of a hot springs, warm and soothing, if this was a place he was going to die, he felt that he couldn't have picked a better place to go.

As the smoke and soft glowing light emerged all around him, Jack could feel his body slowly drifting away from the source. As he drifted to wherever the water was taking him, something snagged him, a piece of rock had managed to snag Jack and push him aside. As he slowly fell down the series of small waterfalls, he noticed he was tumbling in and out of a current. The current had finally plopped him out into a small wading pool somewhere outside the bamboo forest.

At this point Jack was drifting in and out of consciousness. The electromagnetic energies were finally getting to him, as well as his knife wound. But a distant voice caught his attention as a shadowy figure obscured his field of vision. A friendly all too familiar voice greeted him.

"Well you've certainly seen better days Jack!" came the voice, still dilerious, Jack's sight managed to come back to focus to see the looming figure of John Locke.

"J-john? Is that you?" Jack asked, the bald man smiled as he leaned over to Jack. The headaches and pain subsided briefly as Jack got a look at his former rival. Locke was wearing his light blue t-shirt and cargo pants, both stained from the humidity and wear of the jungle. On his side was his holster for his knife, with it oddly not there. His face was beaming as Jack managed to muster a weak smile.

"Heh, Hey John..." Jack managed to chuckle out. Locke gave him a hearty smile and smoothly replied, "Hello Jack". The two men sat quietly as Jack managed to prop himself on the edge of the wading pool. It was Jack who first spoke.

"You're not really here are you?" Locke simply smiled at his remark.

"That's for you to decide Jack, you've seen what this island can do."

Jack smirked. " Well that's mostly because of that "thing"..." Locke gave a small laugh. Jack's tone suddenly dropped as he looked away towards the bamboo trees.

"Listen, I'm sorry John... you were right about everything, the island, that we were suppose to leave... I was wrong to doubt you, to put everyone's lives in danger. I didn't know any better".

Locke gave Jack a soft look, as if he knew Jack had been waiting to say that for a while.

"It's all right Jack, everything played out the way it was meant too. You did what you had to because it was what you were supposed to do." Locke said reassuringly. But Jack still wasn't at ease.

"But you were suppose to lead John, it was always suppose to be you, out of every one of us there was no better candidate than you. From the moment we crashed here, you knew this island was special... but you died. If your dead than what was your role?" Jack asked. Locke paused to give the question some thought.

"Maybe my role was to get you to realize yours Jack. To...to turn the man of science into a man of faith" he smiled at the thought. Jack smirked as well.

Locke looked around. "I understand it now Jack, I was misled by my faith, into thinking I was doing good for the island, only to be deceived and used again for one last time." he said bitterly.

"Perhaps the monster saw me as being too good a candidate for Jacob's job that he decided to use the biggest piece for his own gain." Jack shook his head.

"Well I think you got the last laugh John, we saved the island. Disaster averted." Jack chuckled, as did Locke. "Indeed you did Jack, a job well done." Jack sat quietly as John shifted to get up. He looked to his former rival and enemy and had an appreciation for all that he did.

"I wish I had believed you sooner John, maybe you'd still be here." Jack said solemnly. Locke turned around to him and with a smile said. "I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be Jack, as are you. " Jack felt his head beginning to hurt.

"And it's not the fact that you didn't believe Jack, it's the fact you weren't ready to believe yet." Locke said with a mischievous smile. Jack smiled, finally having some peace of mind. Locke slowly began to walk away. Jack called out to him.

"I'm glad I got to know you John. Thank you..." he shouted. Locke paused and turned his head, pausing to smile slightly. Before he walked off, he said "As am I Jack, now you can finally let go..." before Locke faded away slowly.

As Locke said those words, Jack's vision blurred as Jack blacked out, he knew where he had to go when he came to, he was just glad he got to tell an old friend what he wanted to tell him when he was alive.


End file.
